Nowadays, getting your facts straight may prove more challenging than anticipated – especially when there are actors (be it individuals, collectives, or foreign powers) that have various agendas motivating them to seed disinformation. Their intent could be malicious in nature, or driven by sheer obliviousness to the consequences of spreading inaccurate or fake information. This has been even more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oftentimes, we keep hearing the same messages over and over again – after all, repetita iuvant!1, – first, they are getting manufactured, and then absorbed by our unsuspecting minds. It is, therefore, our responsibility to make sure we have the necessary skill set and ability to discern the falsehoods from actual facts. However, we should not be left alone in the fight for a straightforward and truthful world, where information is not being weaponized to mislead target audiences.
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EDITORIAL_DisinforNation Getting Disinformed in CEE_Olga Łabendowicz
Once disinformation ceases to be the sole domain of malicious external forces and becomes a tool used by our own governments, it is high time to get even more concerned. After all, if our own authorities feel audacious enough to try to confuse their own citizens, is there anything we can still be certain of? And we should have the right to inhabit spaces (both in real life and virtual) that are devoid of distortions; to be a worldwide nation free of disinformation.
Alas, we know this not to be the case. Russia and China, the two most notable seeders of disinformation, are not the only ones to attempt sowing discord within its borders and/or abroad. Recently, Poland and Croatia, among others, have become the battlefields for the hearts and minds of their citizens, who are continuously bombarded with concocted stories that have no basis in reality.
In this spirit, we present you the 13th issue of 4liberty.eu Review, which investigates both the existing, well-established spheres of spreading disinformation and these recently developing in CEE. By offering a broad, yet specific, spectrum of themes, we trust this publication shall bring the Reader some much needed clarity, as well as offer solutions to the most pressing issues. In these times, when nothing can be taken for granted, we hope the information presented here might bring us all some much needed solace. Let the facts and the truth prevail!
Enjoy your reading,
Olga Łabendowicz
Editor-in-Chief of 4liberty.eu Review
Coordinator of the 4liberty.eu network
1 Latin for “repetition is useful”.
